The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1887-01-06

go to the Savior, and assert that they |
have had the Devil removed from them, |
when subsequent experiences prove be-
yond doubt that the man must have
been thrown out, and the Devil preserved. |
But there are cases where the Devil is |
cast out, and the dumb has spoken.
We know man, and he appears before |
us now in Imagination, who was possess
Ell of an evil spirit-or rather of evil spir-
its, and he was dumb, in that his talk was |
almost wholly an unintelligibe iabber |
For years his efforts to speak the English |
any other language that we |
know of-Were dismal and abrupt fail !
ured. The Devil WAS in his stomach III
his mind, in his tongue, i'll his converS;l-
tion. All through his experience and his |
social intercourse, he gave abundant and |
evidence of his terrible affiic-
tlon and possession. Suddenly the Dew
il was cast out of this man, simply
through an acknowledgement of his all
ment and a promise to do better III the
future. Strange as it may seem, this man
was only a representative of a large class
OF unfortunate men who were filed with
Devils in the most distressing shape, and
horrible character. All along the way of
life, this iibbering, mumbling crowd of
poor creatures are reeling, objects of grief
on the part of their friends, and source
of great annoyance to the public.
All at once it dawned upon the friends
that the possession of the evil one was
brought about through human agency,
and that an Investigation might be for
the public good. So it proved. 1t was
soon discovered that his Satanic Majesty
had a well-organiZed force Of imps, act
ing by and through human agency, that
filled men with Devils. For a small sum
a man could implant within himself an
evil spirit of almost any description. One
could get little Devils, big Devils, and
Devils of all descriptions. 1t was-yea,
and it is-the business of these agents to
furnish all the evil spirits the human
race may want; and the great difference
between the ancient and modern order of
things, becomes apparent here In the
olden days. a man possessed of the Devil
would eagerly seek some remedy, some
means of relief. In these latter days,
men will pay their last penny to get
themselves filled with great, black, fright
full, noisy Devils, and parade about in the
light of day, listening to the shrieks and
howls of the Devils who borrow his be-
fouled mouth, through which to shout
their wild sports. To speak to the mod
ern man possessed, and suggest the idea
of having the Demon cast out, he will too
often refuse to receive the advice in the
spirit in which it is given. and will ac-
tually seem to consider the agency that
fills him with evils spirits as a beneficial
influence. A poor, distressed, miserable
creature, yet insensible of the cause or
the danger of his aff1iction.
Now, III considering the cases of men
afflicted by evil spirits, is il not trite and
proper for US to pay some attention to the
means through which men are SO culsed ?
So common has the sight become, that
many men-even among those who have
| the good of their fellow men at heart
will approach the Devil-manufactures
with their hats off, and humbly beg his
pardon for daring to suggest, in the mild
est possible manner, that there might be
| that connected with his business which
was not altogether calculated to make
men better, and point the way from dark
ness to light, from doubt to enjoyment,
from despair to hope. Then, if the dealer
| in evil spirits should express feeling of
resentment against any interference
these good men will take to their heels
| fguratively speaking-and abandon the
contest for righteousness.
Wound the feelings of the brute who
deals in the stuff which fills men with
evil spirits? Did any man ever know
one of these producers of evil spirits to
have any violent workings of conscience
in regard to injuring the feelings OF
others? When man chooses an evil
course and persists in if, when he tramples
all sentiment under foot and mocks at
the appeal for mercy, when he curses
God and seeks to destroy man, when his
presence in a community is menace to
the character and success of the commu-
nity. when he fills men with evil and ru-
in, then casts their worn-out bodies aside
to be cared for by the public he is dis
gracing, is he a fellow about whom we
are to use high-toned, refined sentl-
ment?
Not long since we heard of one of these
dealers in evil spirits who remarked that
his conscience was clear, because he had
never killed anybody Then a long
train of recollections came up which pre-
vented our falling in with the spirit of
his defamation. True, he had never ta-
ken a gun and shot any man to death, or
driven knife through any mans heart
but he had done infinitely worse. We
can easily recall severl men who received
through this particular agency, the spir-
it's that cast them into the depths of the
grave, if not of despair. In this way
souls have been destroyed, and pang
far worse than knife-thrust driven
through innocent hearts. Far more
merciful would have been sudden mur-
der.
But it is a cheering sign that the dumb
are beginning to speak. and things are
appearing that have long been strangers
in Israel. The evil spirits are being cast
out, and those possessed are beginning to
see the dawn of better things. The dis
gusting and annoying jabber of the Dev-
il-possessed victim is dying out along
life's pathway, and the dumb are begin
ming with the sense, the understanding,
of intelligent men. The duty of every
good man in the premises is certainly
plain and simple. The dealers in evil
spirits are the worst sinners that have
ever cursed the earth. There is no stand
ing astride of duty, in this matter, no
dodging We all know of a certainty
that our duty requires the waging of an
uncompremising, earnest warfare, against
this great evil, and no man can claim to
have done his duty who falls in any de-